1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of collapsible, folding tables. More specifically, the invention relates to collapsible, folding massage tables wherein folding and opening of the table is made easier by providing folding leg assemblies with improved folding and stabilizing features.
2. Description of Related Art
Collapsible tables with foldable leg braces are generally known in the art. These collapsible folding tables have some distinct advantages over conventional tables because they can be transported to various locations more easily and can be stored in small spaces. Such portability and small size is very important to various professional trades such as massage services where massage practitioners who visit numerous clients at various locations need specialized massage tables to provide their services. The collapsible folding massage table is often transported in the massage practitioner's vehicle from one location to another and carried and set up by the massage practitioner at the client's location. Therefore, such collapsible folding massage table must be portable, small, light weight and easy to set up and collapse.
One of the disadvantages of such collapsible folding table is that it is not as strong or structurally stable as a conventional table. The joints and hinges used to allow the table to be collapsible and fordable also decrease the structural rigidity of the table and diminish the table's strength and stability. This weakness and instability is especially problematic for a massage table because clients lay on the table surface when the massage practitioner provides his or her services, thus, if the table collapses or if the client falls off the table because the table is unstable, the client is likely to be injured. Consequently, the collapsible table must also have high strength, rigidity and stability so that it will not collapse during use.
A mechanism to automatically set up legs of a foldable chair is shown in patent document No. 180 relating to the original U.S. Pat. No. 14,877 to Lyford which discloses a folding chair including two frame sections hinged together, legs which are attached to the frames by screw pins and jointed braces that support the legs. The reference also discloses a strap which operates to set up the table legs and securely hold the brace joints when the two frame sections are opened.
An example of a collapsible massage table using a similar set up mechanism disclosed in Lyford is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,998 to Everett et al. that discloses a collapsible massage table with two table top sections that are hingedly connected and two pairs of legs hingedly connected to the table top sections. Each leg is supported by a foldable leg brace and a horizontal cable interconnecting the leg braces (FIG. 2A). The reference also discloses that each brace is formed of two brace members and includes a brace stop to prevent the brace members from folding down beyond the coaxial (open) position into a folded (side by side) position. While operable for the purposes disclosed, collapsible tables designed in accordance to the Everett reference lack rigid support of the leg braces, especially at the hinged connection where the two brace members are hingedly connected to one another. Consequently, this lack of rigid support of the leg braces contributed to the lack of structural rigidity of the table and increased the table's lateral instability.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,170 to Spehar, which also uses the set up mechanism disclosed in the Lyford Reissue, attempts to overcome the instability of Everett's table design by adding an additional cross brace at each end of the table attached to one portion of each of the two foldable support arms (leg braces) to impart lateral strength to the table and limit the movement of each foldable support arm at its fully unfolded position. Additional cross braces have the effect of increasing weight and cost while diminishing portability of the massage table. Spehar's design attempts to further increase stability by providing a rigidifying cable connection between the center pivot area of each foldable support arm and the area at which the corresponding leg is pivotally mounted to the foldable table. Because flexible cables are inherently stretchable to some limited degree, foldable tables built in accordance with the Spehar '170 are inherently subject to being unstable under high loads.
FIGS. 1-3 illustrate prior art massage table designs. In particular, FIG. 1 illustrates a massage table 1 including a pair of hingedly-connected table top sections 2 and 2' and two leg assemblies 6 and 6' which are hingedly connected to the outer peripheral portions of the respective table top sections 2 and 2'. Each leg assembly includes a pair of legs 7 and 7' supported by foldable leg braces 15 and a second cross brace 11 which rigidly connect each leg pair to improve lateral strength to the table and limit the movement of the folding leg brace at its fully unfolded position. However, as previously noted, these additional second cross braces increase weight and cost of the massage table and diminishes the table's portability.
Each foldable leg brace is interconnected to the foldable leg brace of the opposing leg on the opposing table top section by a horizontal cable 10 and is also connected to a table top section by a secondary cable 16 which aids in resisting downward movement of the center of the table. However, because these secondary cables stretch slightly under load, the center of the table exhibit excessive downward movement when the table is heavily loaded. Furthermore, the secondary cables often become tangled when the table is set up or collapsed and often protrude from the folded table allowing it to snag on something when being carried. Thus, this improved prior art table design does not provide an optimally designed table which is also rigid and stable under heavy loads and does not provided a table which can be easily folded.
FIGS. 2 and 3 more clearly show a prior art massage table including a hinge 14 which attaches the table top sections 2 and 2' together. FIGS. 1-3 further show folding leg braces 8 attached to the underside of the respective table top sections 2 and 2' at a brace attachment 13. FIG. 3 clearly shows second cross braces 11 that rigidly connect each pair of leg braces. These separate components including hinge 14, brace attachment 13 and the second cross braces 11, all of which add weight to the massage table thereby diminishing the table's portability, further increases the material and manufacturing costs of the massage table.
Therefore, there is a substantial and unfulfilled need for an improved collapsible folding massage table which is rigid and stable, even under heavy loads and is easy to set up and collapse and also light and less costly to manufacture.